Glossary of terms

Core
This is the make-up of the central portion of the wick, in some cases the wicks are coreless, as are the wicks intended for use in Pillar Candles for example. With regard to Container Candles (whether glass, tin or ceramic) there are several core options depending on your individual requirements. (See below for full details).

Lighting the Candle
You are dealing with a living flame, you should always treat it with respect. The wick is ideally approximately 1 cm long, if not you should trim to approximately this length and then light your candle.

Burn Pool
This is the extent of the molten wax from the centre of the wick. Ideally the burn pool should achieve practically or exactly the diameter of the container, which is why the diametre is one of the key measurements when selecting your wick. Our recommendation would be to suggest that a full burn pool should be achieved after ca. 4 hours.

If you only have time to burn your candle for 1 hour at a time, you must understand that a full burn pool may never be achieved and that therefore, you do not have the full value / full use of your candle.

Burn Time
Some candles have very long burn times of between 30 and 70 hours.

Extinguishing
Care should be taken when extinguishing your candle, try not to blow out, this can cause excessive smoking. It is preferable to put the candle out with a candle-snuffer. Never leave burning candles unattended.

NB Please note that if you select tin the metal of the tin will add to the heat and that therefore, a smaller wick size may be required in order to compensate.

Wick SelectionPlease do not try and select your own wick, until you have decided which wax type you are going to use. There are many different grades of soy and paraffin waxes for you to choose from. You must also select your fragrances and put them into wax.

Once you have fragranced your wax and have chosen your container (and your candle dye if you are making coloured candles) then it is time to choose your wick.

This matrix is intended as a starting point for your wick selection, there are of course a multitude of size options in between.
The first and most important thing to do, is to measure the internal diameter of your container.